The crash of a Star Marianas aircraft early on Sunday morning in the Northern Marianas has claimed the lives of three people, including the plane's pilot.
A friend has confirmed that the deceased pilot was Luis Silva, a Mexican who had only been working for the inter-island carrier for two months.
The CNMI Press secretary Angel Demapan separately confirmed that the two other fatalities of the crash are Chinese nationals, a 29-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman.
Four other passengers of the crash survived and were airlifted from the crash site. They are in a critical but stable condition at the Commonwealth Health Center.
The United States Coast Guard petty officer Raymond Sablan told the Saipan Tribune that a US Navy helicopter discovered the crash site on Tinian on Sunday morning.
The airline's Shaun Christian said in an email that his company is very sorry about the tragic loss and added that Star Marianas is fully cooperating with authorities to ascertain the cause of the crash.
